BACKGROUND The risk of fracture for kidney transplant recipients is 4 times higher that of the general population. The pathogenesis of post-transplant bone disease is multifactorial, but hyperparathyroidism plays a key role in the maintenance or development of post-transplant alterations of bone remodelling. Vitamin D and its analogues are key components of treatment aimed to prevent or ameliorate secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). In hemodialysis patients, intravenous paricalcitol (19-nor-1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D2), a new vitamin D analogue, achieves a faster and more effective normalization of parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels than calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3), an effect that is associated with smaller changes in serum calcium and phosphorus levels. Preliminary evidence is also available that in pre-dialysis patients with CKD and secondary hyperparathyroidism, treatment with oral paricalcitol may also reduce urinary protein excretion, an effect that is independent of concomitant treatment with agents that block the renin-angiotensin system and that in the long-term might translate into slower progression to end stage kidney disease and need for renal replacement therapy.